Garment hanger



Jan. 6, 1942. c, WARREN 2,269,413

GARMENT HANGER Filed Dec. 4, 1939 1 N VENT OR. Mar/"e77 ATTORNEY.

' Patented Jan. 6, 1942 GARMENT HANGER Clarke E. Warren, La qrange', Ill Mackie-Lovejoy Manufacturing 00.,

Ill., a corporation of Illinois assignor to Chicago,

Application December 4, is'saseriamo.367,511

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in garment hangers of the type in which a pair of clampingmembers or jaws are hinged together and are moved to clampingposition by a lever.

' An object of this invention is to provide a device of" this character in which the lever is so disposed that it may be, conveniently manipulated .to operate .the clamping members.

' Another object is to provide a lever having an arc" of movement such that in effecting the clamping operation the manual pull on the lever is in a direction" substantially opposite to the force exerted bythe hook upon the hanger as a Whole; 7

A further object is to provide the lever with a handle so positioned that the garment hanger as a whole may beoperatedinto its clamped positionby'the use of one hand:

1 jOther objects} features and advantages'of this invention will become apparent as the description proceedsL in the accompanying drawing I have illustrated a commercial embodiment of the invention'wherein:

Fig; l is a perspective view with the jaws in open position;

Fig. 2 is a section on a vertical plane near the center with the jaws open; and

Fig. 3 is a similar view with the jaws closed.

The jaws or clamping members, as shown, are made preferably of strips of wood I lined with felt pads II on their inner surfaces at the ends, the middle portions being preferably made thinner so that the clamping engagement is effected primarily by the ends of the clamping members. Said members may, of course, be made of other material, and are connected by a hinge formed from heavy wires or from metal rods of small diameter, the axis of the hinge being shown at I2. There are two such rods I3 and I 4, having their ends received in openings in the wooden clamping members, the rod I4 being bent around portions of the rod I3, in the form of helices, as shown at I5, I5a, permitting the parts to swivel about said axis I2. The middle portion of each rod is bent down into substantially U shaped form, as shown at I6 and IT. The clamping lever I8, which may also be made of a rod of small diameter, has one end, I9, bent around the horizontal span constituting the base of the U shaped portion I1 and pivots about the same. The corresponding horizontal span of the other U shaped portion I6 has a roller on it, formed preferably of a strip of metal bent around to form a short cylinder. When the lever I8 is swung about its pivot II, it engages the roller 20 and rides over the same whiledrawing the clamping jaws together, into yielding engagement, as shown in Fig. 3. In this" position, the rod I8is substantiall'yiverticallydisposed, the outer end extending downwardly andbeingprovidedwith a handle Z I Said handle is inthe form of a small cylinder with tapering ends i. e..a double cone.

Said jaws are normally held'inthe open position shown. in Figs.,1' and 2 by means of a spring 22;; the middle portion of which may begin the form of a helix coincident with the axis I2, the endsof the spring being bent around thev base of the U shaped portions as shown at 23 and 24 in Fig; 1, one end terminating; at one end of the roller 20 and the'oth'eren'd terminating at one side of" the bent around end I9 of the rod I8. Thus the jaws tend" to remain in open position so that if the hangeras a whole is held in one hand, thetrousers, or other garment, may be inserted between theclamping jaws with the other hand and said jaws pressed toward each other, after which the clamping lever may be swung downwardly to clamp the garment firmly in placeythe wire hinge mernbers being distorted somewhat in this finarclamping" position, where- 'by they exert a strongspring pressure, which, to-

gether with the friction pads, prevent the garment from slipping. The clamping lever rides freely over the roller as said lever is being swung to clamping position, providing an effective leverage and making it very easy to clamp the jaws together, even though, before clamping, they are held apart at a considerable angle. The roller also reduces wear, prolonging the life of the device. The lever, it will be noted, is bent in such a way as to form a hook at the bottom, the curvature being such that said lever after it has ridden over the roller almost to its final position, passes the dead center so that the resilient action of the U shaped portions I6 and I! will tend to urge the lever into its extreme locked position.

The hook 25 is provided with two lower arms 26 and 21 which are rigidly affixed to the rod I4. The lower ends of the arms 26 and 2'! may be curled around the rod I4 adjacent the helices I5 and I5 and clamped thereto. This prevents pivotal movement of said hook with respect to the rod I I and maintains it in fixed relation with respect to the U-shaped portion ll of said rod. The rod I3 and its associated clamping member are free to pivot in-the helices I5 and I5 and the arms 26 and 21 are so located that they will not impede the free movement thereof.

The device may be operated in either of two ways. In one method of operation, the garment, such as the trouser, may be grasped in say the left hand, and the right hand may close the clamping members ID, the hanger at this time being hooked over the clothes rod. With the right hand firmly urging the clamping members together so that the trousers will not drop from engagement therewith, the left hand may be released from the trousers and grasp the handle 2| and pull it downwardly, thereby locking the two clamping members together. It will be seen that with this operation the pull on the handle 2| is substantially opposite to the reacting force along the hook 25. By this method of operation the garment can be quickly and conveniently clamped into the hanger without removing the hanger from the clothes rod. To unclamp the the clamping members l together, the only work that is done is against the action of spring 22, and consequently the cam surface is so shaped that it will have very little mechanical advantage. During the latter portion of its rotative movement, however, that is after the clamping members have been brought into engagement with one another, the cam portion is so shaped that there will be a great mechanical advantage, which is desirable inasmuch as the lever I8 is working against the relatively strong spring action of the u shaped portions l6 and I1 and of the arms l3 and M which are curved or bent between the garment it is necessary only to grasp the handle 1 2| with say two fingers and with the thumb of the same hand to push against the clamping member I 0. The handle and associated clamping lever l8 may then be displaced through a sufficient angular distance so that it will ride over dead center, after which the resilience of the U shaped portions l6 and I1, together with the action of the spring 22, will serve to completely open the clamping members ID. V

According tothe other mode of operation the hanger is removed from the clothes rod and grasped in the right hand with two fingers projecting between each of the rods l3 and I4 and their associated clamping members In, the outer ends of the two fingers grasping the handle 2i and the palm pressing against the clamping member l0 which is associated with the rod l4. As the hand is closed the handle 2| is brought down into its extreme locking position. It will therefore be seen that the entire clamping operation can be performed with one hand while the other hand is free to adjust the position of the garment between the clamping members In.

The lever I8 is bent in such a way that it might be considered that an intermediate portion thereof 28 forms a cam surface which reacts against the roller 20. During the first portion of the movement of the handle which will serve to bring hinged portions and the ends thereof.

It will be seen consequently that the shape of the lever I8 is such that a mechanical advantage is provided by means of which the clamping operation may be easily effected by one hand.

I claim:

A garment hanger comprising two rods, one of which is coiled around the other at two horizontally aligned portions to form a hinge, two clamping members each of which is secured to the ends of one of said rods, the middle portions of each of said rods being U shaped, a clamping lever pivotally mounted on one of said U shaped portions, a roller mounted on said other U-shaped portion, said clamping lever normally resting on said roller when said clamping members are spaced apart in open position and having a bend therein between its pivotal mounting and its point of contact with said roller, to provide an increased mechanical advantage when said lever is being swung downwardly to closing position, and having also a reverse bend near the point of contact with said roller when said clamping members are in open position, and an upwardly extending hook for detachably supporting said hanger on a fixed support, said hook having lower ends spaced apart and curved around both of said rods adjacent the coiled portions which form said hinge, whereby said hook is nonrotatable with respect tactic of the two rods forming said hinge.

. CLARKE E. WARREN. 

